Thank you, and good afternoon. My name's Bob Lowe and I'm a rancher and feedlot operator in southern Alberta. I'm also the current vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, the national voice of Canada's 60,000 beef operations.
I'll just add a little correction. With me is Fawn Jackson, who has gone through the environment portfolio and is now the senior manager of government and international affairs with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
The CCA has long been an advocate for free trade, and today I'm here to encourage all parliamentarians to swiftly ratify CUSMA. Under both NAFTA and CUSMA, the beef industries of Canada, the United States and Mexico have and will enjoy reciprocal duty-free trade between our countries. North America is the largest market for Canadian beef, and the integration of our markets makes us more competitive internationally.
The next generation is involved in my family farming operation, and I can tell you that I'm excited for their future. Last year, following the implementation of the CPTPP, Canadian beef saw an impressive demand bump. Our exports overall grew 19% in value and, specifically, 68% in value in the Japanese market. I bring this up because a similar demand increase happened following the implementation of the original NAFTA.
Under NAFTA, Canadian beef exports to the U.S. grew 340% in total value, from $500 million in 1995 to $2.3 billion in 2019. Similarly, beef exports to Mexico grew over 30-fold in value from $3.7 million in 1995 to $127 million in 2019. All of this is to say that trade agreements are not only fundamental to the viability of farming and ranching operations from coast to coast, but are also the foundation for growth of Canada's agricultural sector.
For my cattle operation, having American buyers in the Canadian market for live cattle means that I can rest assured that I have a competitive market to sell my cattle into. Today, we are seeing an example of this in eastern Canada, where cattle producers are struggling financially, as a technical issue has essentially removed American cattle buyers from their market. This has resulted in significantly depressed prices and is an unfortunate example of just how important having an open and competitive North American cattle market is. Having North American buyers participate actively in the Canadian market is imperative to the financial well-being of Canadian farmers.